Research shows energy cost of mobile broadband solutions
It sounds obvious when you think about it: like everything else, running a mobile broadband service uses up energy.
Industry experts have warned that the energy required per subscriber will significantly increase with the widespread rollout and usage of mobile broadband. ABI Research have said that mobile operators will need to move away from traditional cellular-only technology and make greater use of WiMax and metro wi-fi solutions.
They reckon that energy costs are the third most significant operating expense for mobile operators.
Based purely on coverage, they also found that WiMax is twice as cost-effective as WCDMA, whilst metro wi-fi is fifty times more cost-effective.
Their study also forecasts the growth in total energy consumption arising from mobile broadband service delivery from 42.8 billion KWh in 2005 to 124.4 billion KWh in 2011, most of which will be attributable to the Asia Pacific region.
Read more about ethical consumerism at our sister blog Hippy Shopper
